


right in no time

by lovelymuke



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Kids, M/M, Sickfic, Swearing, ashton and calum are only really mentioned, brief mentions of internalised homophobia, very mild sexual content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-15 22:44:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16072907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelymuke/pseuds/lovelymuke
Summary: Michael’s sick and he stumbles into the middle of a family gathering in the Hemming's household on a hot summer's day.Luke tries his best to take care of him with tea, soup and bubble baths, because isn’t that what boyfriends are for?





	right in no time

**Author's Note:**

> just a btw that this is kind of an accompanying fic to something I wrote a couple of weeks ago called [perfectly fine...not](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15979493). you definitely don't have to read them together though, they both stand alone by themselves!

Today hasn’t been a good day. Not for Michael.

They’d only touched down in Australia a few days ago, back for their weeks off over Christmas, and the flu has already got him in its hold. The seasonal change from the European winter to the scorching Australian summer can’t have helped, and now that his parents are out of town for a few days, he’s just downright miserable. He’s been able to keep it at bay so far, but he isn’t sure what to do because today, he feels worse than usual. He’s shaking with shivers that he figures must be a fever, his nose is congested, his whole body aches, and every so often, his head aches so intensely that he’s sure that just splitting it in two would be less painful. He’s feeling sorry for himself as he lazes on the couch, attempting to play video games but not really able to focus.

All he wants is Luke. They haven’t seen each other since their plane landed at Sydney Airport and they had all parted ways. They’d spoken on the phone last night though, and he knows that Luke is meant to have family around today but he’s so desperate that he doesn’t care, so he pulls out his phone and types a text to him with shaky hands.

 

Luke’s sitting in the living room when he gets the text. His family are all piled into the living room, aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins alike, perched on armchairs and stretched out on recliners. Liz had planned a barbeque lunch and get together to celebrate the beginning of the holiday season, and Luke finally being home for more than a few short days. There are cups of tea clasped in wrinkled hands despite the sweltering heat beating through the opened ranch sliders, and they’re squashed so closely together on the sofa that Luke has to avoid knocking Jack’s beer as he reaches into his pocket to retrieve his buzzing phone.

Luke’s face twists in concern as his eyes skim over Michael’s text.

_can i come over?_

He can feel Liz glance at him from across the room where she’s sat with his Grandma, a questioning gaze on her faze. He nods at her slightly, letting her know that everything is ok.

They’d spoken on the phone last night, Luke and Michael. He had sounded terrible at the time, coughing and spluttering, his voice hoarse even though he insisted it sounded much worse over the phone than it did in person. 

“What’s up?” Jack keeps his voice low as he leans over to Luke as if they’re not already pressed against each other enough as it is.

“Nothing, it’s just Mike. He wasn’t feeling that great last night… I think he’s gonna come over” he pauses “Mum won’t mind right, like with everyone here?” Luke asks hesitantly and Jack rolls his eyes.

“Don’t be stupid. Everyone knows about Michael”

“Yeah but there’s a difference between knowing and like, _seeing_ , and I don’t want to-”

Jack cuts off Luke’s ramblings. “Just shut up and tell him to get his ass over here”

 

Luke still has this hesitance inside of him when it comes to his relationship. Logically, he knows that his immediate family love Michael like a fourth son or brother. He also knows that Liz takes every opportunity to gush about Michael and Luke to their extended family, so everyone knows about it and in theory, it shouldn’t weird anyone out, to have Luke’s boyfriend appear at a family gathering. But he also knows that his grandpa always expected him to end up with a girlfriend like Jack and Ben and that one of his aunts had spent multiple years insisting that it was “just a phase, he’ll grow out of it don’t worry Liz.” In reality, it’s probably easier for older generations to try and understand Luke’s relationship when they only have to hear about it, not be confronted with it face to face.

Deep down, Luke also knows it's not his family’s fault that he’s feeling this way. He’s still so insecure himself, years of hiding his relationship has made him so sure that everyone will be disgusted by it, that it’s his own deep dark secret that isn’t ever meant to see the light of day. He’s straight, as far as the public knows. It scares the shit out of him, the fact that somewhere deep down, as a twenty-two-year-old gay man, he could be more homophobic himself than his sixty-something-year-old uncle sitting across from him, bouncing his cousin Zoe on his lap.

He’s had this discussion with Ashton in the past, one of their late night chats on tour, when the rumbling of the tour bus is too loud and Luke is _so tired_ that he can’t sleep. Internalised homophobia. That’s the name of what he’s feeling. Ashton had googled it. He knows Michael struggles with it too. He figures it’s probably their situation, rather than the two of them as individuals.

 

“Do I have to text him myself?” Jack grumbles as he elbows Luke in the side, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“I’m doing it now, shut up” Luke rolls his eyes as he types out a reply.

_yeah, got family here but come over_

_are u ok_

 

Michael’s reply comes instantly.

_i feel like shit_

_are u sure its ok_

 

Luke quickly shoots him another text to let him know that of course it’s okay and he better get himself around here as quickly as possible before he pockets his phone again, feeling mildly proud of himself. Ashton had told him that the only way to get over the way he was feeling was probably to just try and overcome it. Make the most of being out and proud to all of the people he was _allowed_ to be out and proud to, instead of hiding it around everyone apart from the band, his parents and brothers. He figures this is a start.

 

Luke’s moved outside, playing soccer with Jack, Ben and the rest of their cousins half an hour later, when Michael arrives. He throws his arms up in the air in mock defeat as he lets Zoe kick the ball past him, the six-year-old’s face lighting up in disbelief as the ball rolls into the net. He’s just bending down to offer her a high-five as he spots his mother standing on their back deck, beckoning him over.

“I gotta go quickly, you want to keep playing with everyone else?” Luke asks Zoe as she pouts slightly. She was closest to him out of any of their cousins, Luke had babysat her a lot when he was younger and they've never seemed to shake that bond. Her mum, Luke’s aunt will bring her along to any of the shows that play in Australia, and she watches with their family in the crowd, on her dad's shoulders wearing earmuffs loaned from their crew. She likes watching them whenever they’re on TV as well, his aunt always tells him. He frequently gets texted photos of the young girl perched on her beanbag in front of their TV, enthralled by the “rockstar” that Luke becomes when he’s on stage, compared to days like right now when he’s dressed in a slightly holey singlet and shorts, his curls tied back messily.

 

Ben notices the way that Zoe seems unsure about letting go of Luke, so he makes his way over and takes her hand, leading her back into the game. They all know how attached she is to Luke, and that he probably needs to be there for his boyfriend right now, so Luke mouths thank you to him before picking up his pace, jogging back towards the house.

Michael is standing behind Liz, wearing a white t-shirt and sweatpants, despite the sweltering heat. His face relaxes into a soft smile as Luke meets his eyes and extends his arms to wrap his smaller boyfriend in a hug. “Hey” Michael mumbles into his shoulder, and Luke can see Liz smiling affectionately at them from where she’s still standing by the door to the back garden.

“How’re you feeling?”

“Terrible” Michael whines, and his voice sounds worse than it did yesterday, still muffled against Luke. He pulls back so he can study Michael’s face, frowning at the pale shade of white his face has taken on. He shoots Liz a grateful smile as she turns to disappear back into the gathering. At this, Luke is suddenly aware of the fact that they’re in full view the older members of his family still in situ in the living room, just through a doorway to their right.

“Let’s go” Luke motions towards the kitchen, intertwining Michael’s fingers with his own and tugging him towards the kitchen, suddenly self-conscious and Michael follows easily.

 

Once they’re alone in the quiet of the kitchen, they stand in silence for a second. They’re leaning against the cool stone of the kitchen counter, providing both of them some relief, Luke’s body still slightly sweaty from running around in the heat. He leans forward, pressing his lips against Michael’s chastely, his hand lingering against the small of his back. He can feel the heat radiating off of his skin, and Luke’s sure it isn’t just the Australian summer heat that’s causing it. “It’s just the flu you reckon?” Luke asks, stepping away from Michael and turning around, rummaging through cabinets for the jar of honey. He’s set on preparing a cup of honey and lemon tea for Michael, despite his protests that Luke _doesn’t need to do that_ and that he’s _already causing enough trouble just by being here_. Luke shuts that down with a roll of his eyes, grasping a lemon from the fruit bowl on the counter and fumbling around for their juicer.

Michael shrugs in response, having given up fighting against Luke and resigns to letting him take care of him because admittedly, right now the idea of someone else looking after him sounds far too good to be true. After days of holing himself away in his bedroom to feel sorry for himself and attempt to not contaminate anyone, this is exactly what he feels like.

So he tries to ignore the ever-present hammering in his head, rummaging absentmindedly through the junk draw in the Hemming’s kitchen, directly below the cutlery draw. He knows this is where he’ll find various half-used packs of painkillers, along with scissors, various sets of keys, old high school report cards and other miscellaneous items that have found their home in the drawer. Locating what he’s looking for, he pops a couple in his mouth as he stands out of the way, watching Luke. It fascinates him the way he seems to work with such purpose yet manage to look so lost at the same time, his long limbs working against him ever being anything synonymous with graceful. But it’s almost second nature to Luke now, they prepare this a lot on tour because they can never afford to lose their voices, so there are always honey and lemons on hand in case anyone ever comes down with a slight tickle in their throat.

So he flicks the kettle on, spoons the honey and squeezes the lemon into, what Michael notes, is his favourite mug. It’s an old My Chemical Romance mug that must have been Luke’s back in high school, and it’s just the right balance of ironic but also still kind of cool that he’s become sort of attached to it. Sure, Gerard Way’s jet black hair and eye makeup are far less striking years later, faded after many a trip through the dishwasher, and there are chips in the side where Luke has probably dropped the damn thing but it’s okay because Michael still loves it. It’s so fucking _domestic_ it might make him sick - well, sicker than he already is - that he has a favourite fucking  _mug_ in the Hemmings house. It makes him swell with love inside at the same time, but that’s the part that he doesn’t admit.

 

“One honey and lemon drink, coming right up” Luke announces a few minutes later, the kettle pinging as the water reaches temperature, and he pours it into the mug with the honey and lemon. Michael would much rather be drinking an icy beer in these afternoon temperatures, but he knows that this will hopefully help him feel slightly better and Luke has just spent five minutes of his life tending over this drink for Michael, so he’s grateful.

“Have I ever told you that you’re the best?”

“Not today I don’t think” Luke teases in return, his arms wrapping around Michael’s waist as he pulls him closer. He’s just leaning in for a kiss, despite Michael’s protests of “if you get sick because of this I am  _not_ looking after you, you idiot,” when they both hear footsteps enter the room. They spring apart, Michael finally gaining some colour back into his pale skin as he flushes red.

“Lu, I fell!” It’s Zoe, of course it is. There are grass stains on her blue t-shirt, and Luke immediately shifts from embarrassed and slightly annoyed to concerned.

“Are you okay?” He questions as the small girl approaches them slowly, cautiously almost. She’s never this way with Luke until he realises that she’s staring up at Michael instead, a look that could only really be described as awe on her face. Michael’s noticed, and for one stupid second Luke worries that maybe he won’t be in the mood to deal with children right now, but that all evaporates as he sees Michael crouch down slightly.

“Hey, you’re Zoe, right? I’m Michael. I think we’ve met before, you’ve been to see our band play.” Luke loves watching Michael like this, the way that he goes all soft and gentle around young children, similar to the way that he approaches Luke when he’s upset or panicking.

“Mhmm! I’m Zoe. You’re Mikey, I see you on the TV with Lu” she announces.

“Yeah, that’s right. I hope you didn’t get too hurt in your fall” Michael frowns. Luke is scanning over her slightly for any signs of injury but as she babbles animatedly about how she had tripped over the ball and how it was  _really_ mean that their cousin Jackson had laughed at her, Luke decides that she’s okay, and picks up Michael’s cup of tea.

“Michael isn’t feeling too good, he’s a bit sick. We were just about to go upstairs and watch some cartoons, want to come with us?” Luke shoots inquisitive gaze over the top of her blonde head to make sure that it’s okay with Michael, but he doesn’t need to worry because Michael is standing up straight again and Zoe is already reaching up to tug on Michael’s hand.

“C’mon, I can show you where Lu’s bedroom is if you want?”

“Sure, I’d love that” Michael plays along, biting his lip to stifle a grin and Luke laughs a little.

They follow Zoe out of the kitchen, and Michael’s smile is bright but slightly reserved as he takes in the sight of all Luke’s relatives. Luke keeps his arm wrapped around him and they only stop for a moment to say hello, Luke not wanting to subject Michael to the inquisitive stares of his extended family, as they cross through the living room, before they’re climbing the stairs and walking over the hallway to Luke’s bedroom.

 

Zoe is already perched in the middle of the bed as Luke sets the cup of tea gently down onto the bedside table. Michael lets himself sink down onto the bed, his eyes drifting closed for a second in relief. The room has been converted into more of a guest room since Luke’s moved out, but it still feels like home to Michael after the many hours spent in here before the band took off. Luke reaches for the switch on the fan in the corner of the room but decides against it when he notices the way that Michael is shivering slightly, and opts to open a window instead. As he does, Michael reaches for the remotes for the second-hand TV Luke has sitting opposite his bed, turning to Zoe. “What shall we watch? What are your favourite shows?” Zoe looks lost in thought for a second, thinking hard over Michael’s question before she replies. She begins mentioning Disney Channel and Spongebob, but by the time Luke makes his way over to curl up on the bed with the two of them, she’s started to mention princesses and Michael’s eyes are glazed over ever so slightly but he’s still doing his best to look like he's interested, even though Luke is sure he feels like hell.

Michael relinquishes control of the remotes over to Luke as he makes himself comfortable on the bed, head resting up on one of Luke’s pillows. He’s on the left side of the bed, his side of the bed no matter which bed or part of the world they happen to find themselves in. Luke, of course, is consequently sitting on his right, up against the headboard only a few inches away from him. Zoe is lying somewhere in the middle, on her stomach sprawled facing the TV, her feet resting in Luke’s lap. They settle on Spongebob, more for Michael and Luke than Zoe but she seems happy so they leave it at that.

 

They stay like that for an hour or so, Luke having to remind Michael every so often to actually drink the tea that he’d prepared, and honestly, the room was far too stuffy but Michael was still shivering so Luke figured it was worth it.

Luke glances over at Michael eventually, taking in the way he’s lying with his head half propped up, eyes staring un-movingly at the TV. He’s sniffling, a nasty sounding cough escaping him every so often, and it doesn’t phase Luke, he’s seen him like this many times before. After all, it’s not uncommon for them to fall sick while they’re travelling, constantly on the move, in the air frequently and dealing with ever-shifting climates. At least when they’re at home they have the luxury of being able to relax and not have to attempt to keep up with their daily gruelling schedule. He stretches his arm out, rubbing his thumb up and down against Michael’s shoulder. It’s nothing particularly romantic or sexual, but it’s comforting and after a while, it begins to keep Michael grounded whenever he feels himself getting caught up in the fog of his head.

“Hey, you want some soup?” Luke asks suddenly, remembering that there’s some leftover Thai Chicken soup in the fridge that had been prepared by Liz a few days ago when his dad had come down with a stuffy nose, which ended up clearing fairly quickly. Michael perks up suddenly, having not really eaten proper food in days.

“Yeah, yeah that’d be good. Let me do it though, you’ve already done too much for-”

“Shut up. Zoe can help me, right Zoe? We don’t need Michael” Luke laughs and Zoe cheers in response. Michael just lies back down against the pillows in mock-defeat as the two of them get up, leaving the room to venture downstairs.

 

Zoe beats him down the stairs, bounding down them. Luke hears her rush into the living room, announcing loudly and proudly that “Mummy! Lu and I get to make soup!” He can hear her continue to talk excitedly for a minute as he rummages through the fridge in the kitchen, eventually locating the soup sitting in a Tupperware container in the fridge, behind the beer bottles and potato salad leftovers from the afternoons' barbeque. He grabs a pot from the drawer underneath the stove and pours a bowl-full of the soup into it, waiting for the element to heat up before he puts it on. Zoe is reentering the room not long after, beaming from ear to ear.

“Oh good, you’re here” Luke grins as he places the pot onto the stove “I have an important job for you, do you think you can do it?”

“Yes!”

“I need you to stir for me, so we can make sure it doesn’t burn” Luke explains, guiding her smaller hand to the wooden spoon in the pot. They stand in the kitchen for a few more minutes, Luke watching carefully to make sure that she didn’t get too close to the stove or that the pot didn’t spill over. When he’s sure that the soup will be hot enough, he pours it into a bowl. “Can I carry it up to Mikey? I won’t spill I promise, please?” Zoe begs.

“Of course, he’d love that” Luke affirms, and he waits for the bowl to cool down before he passes it to her.  

 

Michael’s been dozing upstairs, he’d finally stopped shivering and the heat of the room had sent him into a slumber, but the smell of the slightly spicy soup hit him as soon as the door opened and Luke and Zoe walked back in. Zoe’s tongue is sticking out of the corner of her mouth ever so slightly in concentration as she walks slowly, clearly trying to desperately hard not to spill a single drop of the soup that she’s been entrusted to carry. She makes it over to the side of the bed where Michael is lying and he sits up. “That looks amazing, wow thank you, Zoe. You’re the best.”

“You’re welcome” she smiles bashfully, a slight blush creeping up on her cheeks at the compliment.

They both climb back onto the bed, Michael carefully cradling his bowl of soup in his lap, looking almost as concentrated as Zoe had as he makes sure not to spill it. Luke flicks the volume on the TV back up a few notches and Zoe curls into his side. The rest of the afternoon passes like this, the three of them spread across the bed, all lying down now that Michael’s empty bowl of soup has been abandoned on the bedside table next to his finished cup of honey lemon tea.

 

Luke’s bedroom gradually begins to fill with a golden tinged light as the day draws to a close. Michael’s fallen asleep now, in the middle of The Powerpuff Girls episode, after he’d finished complaining in Luke’s ear, under his breath so that Zoe wouldn’t hear, that the reboot was far inferior to the original. Even Zoe is beginning to fade, her eyes drooping as she rests her head against his side. Luke can hear people beginning to leave downstairs so he stands up slowly, careful to remove his arm from around Michael slowly so he doesn’t disturb him. Judging by the slightly sunken rings under his eyes, made more prominent by the paleness of his skin, he needs all the sleep that he’s getting.

Luke straightens out his singlet, rumpled from being curled up on his side and as he turns back towards the bed, a grin tugs at his lips at the sight. Michael and Zoe are both still sprawled out on his bed, fast asleep. It’s the future he wants, he decides. Him, Michael and children of their own. He doesn’t let himself indulge in those thoughts for too long, knowing that any sort of future like this is still years off, and will have to take place in a time where he and Michael can finally be open about their relationship. He knows that time will come eventually, or at least that’s what he tells himself, clings onto the hope that their relationship won’t die with the two of them, in secret. He shakes those thoughts away. He’s been doing so well today, he’s been letting people in rather than keeping them at an arm's length away in some misguided attempt to protect his relationship. Ashton would be proud. Luke makes a mental note to call him over the next few days, maybe invite him and Calum over for a barbeque if Michael is still here.

He knows he has to ruin their peace though, so he leans down to shake Zoe gently. “Hey, I think it’s time for you to head off now, shall we get up?” he whispers softly, and she opens her eyes, blinking a few times and frowning at him in response.

“But I don’t wanna-”

Michael sits up suddenly, rubbing his eyes blearily as he interrupts. “What’s going on?” He asks, his words slurring from his still half-sleepy state so it comes out more like _wassgoingon_.

“Everyone’s leaving, I’m just taking Zoe downstairs.” Michael moves to stand up at this, but luke hurriedly motions for him to lie back down. “No no no, it’s fine. I’ll be back in like five minutes tops”  

“Bye bye Mikey” Zoe turns to face him, and Michael musters up as much energy as possible to shoot a grin at the small blonde girl.

“Thank you for helping to look after me Zoe, I feel so much better now.”

Zoe leans forward to press a tiny kiss to his cheek, before jumping off the bed to join Luke. “I’ll be back soon, just get some more rest” he promises Michael before he takes Zoe’s hand.

 

Their family are all gathering in the entry entryway by the front door when Luke reaches the bottom of the stairs, everyone departing. Luke’s Aunt catches his eye and smiles when she sees that he has Zoe with him. “Oh good, I was just about to come up and find you Zoe!” she smiles, before mouthing ‘thank you for looking after her’ over the top of her head to Luke. He feels slightly guilty as he hugs all of his relatives' goodbye, knowing that he’s spent the better part of the afternoon upstairs with Michael, but he’ll see them all in a week or so on Christmas Day so he tries not to dwell on it.

“How is he?” Jack asks, nudging Luke’s side gently. It’s just him, Jack, Ben and their parents standing by the door now, the house feeling significantly emptier and quieter.

“He doesn’t seem to good, I’m not sure.”

“How long until Karen and Daryl are back in town?” Liz questions and there is concern shining in her eyes because she _loves_ Michael, almost as much as one of her own sons and she hates to see him so unwell and miserable.

“Not until the end of the week I think.” Luke is sure he remembers Michael mentioning something about his parents only being gone until then, but now that he thinks about it he’s not sure.

“Well he’s staying here, right? I’m not letting him go home to an empty house”

“Yeah, I was going to try and talk him into just sticking around for a few-”

“Let me talk to him.”

 

Michael stirs when Liz walks into the room, hands on her hips as she stands at the foot of the bed. He scrubs at his eyes again, staring back at her. “Hey, Liz” he mumbles, glancing inquisitively at Luke, who’s standing in the doorway, as if to say _what’s going on_?

“Michael Clifford, you are not leaving this house until your parents are home, and definitely not while you’re sick” Liz instructs, and Luke has to bite back a laugh as he can hear her school teacher voice coming back out.

“Seriously, no it’s okay, I don’t want to be a bother. I’m not sixteen anymore, I’m sure I can handle an empty house-”

“Are you arguing with me?” she raises an eyebrow, and Michael chuckles slightly

“No, nope not arguing, just-”

“Good, then it’s settled. I’m making stir fry for dinner, I’ll see you boys down there in half an hour. I’ll see what I can find in the medicine cabinet for you as well Michael, I’m sure Luke hasn’t been much help with that” she announces, a knowing smile on her face as she turns and leaves the room before Luke even has the chance to protest that _hey_ , he thought he did a pretty good job of the honey lemon tea and the soup thank you very much.

 

So Michael sits around their table for dinner that night, and at first he’s still hesitant because he doesn’t want to get any of the Hemmings sick but they all brush off his protests and Liz sets a few cold and flu tablets next to his glass of water at dinner, along with an Antihistamine to help with his stuffed up nose. They’re so loving and warm, that as much as Michael is worried about infecting everyone around him, he also now hates the idea of having to retreat back to his own empty house. He's glad he decided to stay, not that Liz had given him much of a choice in the matter. They both get out of clearing the table and helping with the dishes after dinner as well, because “even though you’re family and not a guest Michael, we could never make you help out, you’re sick after all,” and Luke claims that he still has the responsibility of playing nurse to keep up with and that he’s going to run Michael a bath.

 

“Were you serious about the whole bath thing, or were you just saying that to get out of there? Because you don’t need to do anything else for me, I feel fine” Michael queries as they’re trekking back up the stairs.

“I was dead serious. It will be good for you, relax”

“Only if you get in with me” Michael is teasing, but still slightly serious until they turn the corner into the bathroom and Michael is instantly reminded that there’s no way that will be happening. “Dude can _you_ even fit in that bathtub, you giant?”

“Yeah, I'm sure I can. If I can then you’ll be fine. I don’t think the two of us will quite make it in there though”

“No kidding.”

 

The rushing sound of the water filling the bathroom is soothing, as Luke rummages around in the drawers next to the sink for anything that he can throw into the bath to make it more relaxing. Digging out some bubble bath and a tattered looking packet of possibly expired bath salts, he adds those in for good measure just as the water nears the top and Luke switches the taps off.

He’s swirling his hand around in the water, testing the temperature when out of the corner of his eye he sees Michael step out of his sweatpants. He’s taken back to the moment when he saw Michael naked for the first time, remembers how panicked he had been. They were seventeen and it felt so  _wrong_ to Luke at the time. He was still struggling with his sexuality, and the fact that he was purposefully seeking out seeing another boy naked and getting  _turned on_ by it petrified him. The whole ‘getting naked’ thing had never led anywhere that night, as a confused Michael had to step in and calm Luke down, while simultaneously trying to work out what the hell had happened so suddenly. Surely he couldn’t have been _that_ ugly without his clothes on. Luke had spent the next week feeling guilty and horrifyingly embarrassed about ruining the mood for what was supposed to be their first time, but fast forward five years and he doesn’t even bat an eyelid as Michael proceeds drop his boxers to step into the warm water. They’re so comfortable in fact, that once he’s sitting in the bathtub, Michael’s eyes drop down to Luke’s still-clothed crotch and his mouth twists into a grin. “You’re not even fucking turned on right now.”

“What, seeing you sitting in a tub full of water covered in my mums lavender bubble bath is meant to give me a hard on?”

“Fair enough.”

 

They let the silence surround them for a minute. Luke is sitting up against the bathtub and he’s taken his shirt off so he can feel the cool of the tile against his side, the steam from the bathroom making him feel like he’s boiling alive. It's worth it though, because it’s the moments like these that they don’t often get time for on tour, the quiet moments in which they can enjoy each others company without any time restrictions or external pressures. Luke's arm is resting on the edge and his own dry hand intertwined with Michael’s wet one. The only sound filling the room is the bathwater lapping up against the sides of the tub everytime Michael moves slightly, and Luke feels so utterly at ease. They could spend the whole night here if they wanted, but judging by the exhaustion that’s been creeping into Michael’s voice all day, Luke figures it won’t be long until they’re both tucked under the sheets in his bedroom.

“Did it worry you, seeing all my family today?” Luke asks eventually, his words carefully spoken. He can’t help asking, those thoughts still swirling around at the back of his mind.

“Kind of. I didn’t really think about it,” Michael shrugs, going quiet again for a minute, but he knows where Luke is coming from, where the conversation is going, so he probes “did it worry you?”

“I’m not sure. I think it did at first but I got past that. I’m trying to take Ashton’s advice, y’know? The whole out and proud stuff.”

Michael hums lightly in response. “We should do this stuff more often, with our families. It makes me feel like we’re less alone in the whole secrecy thing.”

“Yeah… yeah, you’re right, we should.”

 

They talk about nothing for a little while longer, both of them watching the sun dip lower and lower in the sky through the bathroom window. Just as it’s about to disappear below the horizon, Michael drains all of the water out of the bath and begins to shiver again slightly. Luke grabs a towel off the rail and passes it to him as he stands, grabbing onto Luke’s shoulder as he awkwardly steps out of the bath, concentrating on not slipping and cracking his head or something equally clumsy and Michael-like.  

“Now hurry up and get dressed, we’re going to bed”

“Luke, it’s literally only eight o’clock, the sun hasn’t even fully set yet”

“What makes you think this is for you? I’m _super_ tired” Luke insists, feigning a yawn for added believability. Michael doesn’t buy it for a second but he also doesn’t argue, only sending luke a fond but exasperated smile as he slips into a borrowed pair of Luke’s pyjamas.

 

The bathroom is still hot and steamy as they leave it after they’ve both brushed their teeth. They call out goodnight to everyone downstairs, both well past the stage of having the fear that if they go to bed too early then their entire family will think that they’re fucking.

So they retire back to the bedroom, which still smells ever so faintly of the Thai Chicken soup, the sheets rumpled from where the three of them had been lying earlier and cartoons paused on the TV. Neither of them mind though, as they climb under the covers, kicking the duvet off immediately because it’s _far_ too hot for that.

The last light of the day is still slipping in through the curtains and Michael falls asleep almost instantly, his head tucked into the crook of Luke’s neck. Luke can hear him sniffling slightly every time he breathes in, and he knows there’s no way that Liz will let him leave until he’s feeling better, or at least until his parents are back in town. She’ll probably make some more soup tomorrow, even let Michael pick the flavour, and pick up some special flu medication from the chemist. The way that she makes Michael feel so loved makes him feel loved as well, touched that she goes out of her way to care so much about his boyfriend. He might be Luke's boyfriend, but he's family to all of them, not just Luke, he figures.

Between the two of them, and maybe some occasional teasing from Ben and Jack, Michael will be right in no time.

**Author's Note:**

> hi lovelies, thank you for reading! if you feel like leaving feedback, which would be really great, you can leave something below or pop over to my [tumblr](http://lovely-muke.tumblr.com) and leave [feedback](http://lovely-muke.tumblr.com/ask) there! & let me know if you have any requests that you'd like me to write, i'm always looking for inspiration! love hayley xx


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